Cupcakes
by pottermum
Summary: If anyone had told Auror Jackson that morning that he'd end the day at Harry Potter's house, he'd have told them they were barking mad. Rating is for mild swearing.


Auror Luke Jackson limped back to the Auror offices, a note from the Medi-witch in his hand. He entered the main office where they had held their team meeting awhile ago, just in time to see his boss, head Auror Harry Potter exit out the other door. "No exceptions!" he called firmly to the remaining men and women as he left.

"He still pissed?" asked Luke, sitting next to one of his team, Justin.

Justin looked up from his scribbling. "Yeah. I've never seen him that angry. You?"

Luke shook his head. This was his first year as a full fledged Auror and today's mission was the first big one involving the whole team. Only it hadn't gone well and now the boss (aka Harry) wanted answers.

"He wants every single one of us to write a thorough report and tomorrow we're going over them, step by step," said Justin, pointing to the white board at the front. Luke recognised Harry's messy scrawl and the words, _'No Exceptions'_ underlined three times.

"Guess I better get to it, then," said Luke, sitting down and summoning parchment and a quill.

Justin frowned. "I don't think he means you, you were injured. How's the leg?" he asked.

Luke shrugged. It hurt like crazy but he wasn't going to admit it. "Fine. No exceptions, remember. I don't want to give the boss a reason to chew me out"

"Yeah," sighed Justin, bending his head over his own parchment. "Although he seemed a bit moodier than usual, even before all this shit went down." The two men sat companionably, the only sound was their quills flying over the parchment.

Three hours later, Luke was the only one left in the office. He lay down his quill and re-read his report. Satisfied, he signed it and stood, groaning as his leg pained him. Testing it, he decided to walk around on it for a bit, to loosen it up. He went to the staff room to make some coffee and, feeling hungry, he nabbed some biscuits too. He thought about dinner, then decided to grab some take away before going to his empty flat. Then he could take a pain potion and go straight to bed.

With that decision made, he headed back to the office, grabbed his report and went to Harry's office. He nodded to the cleaner, and went to knock on Harry's door. He knew it was late, but Harry always stayed back when something big went down at work.

"'He's not there, left ages ago," said the cleaner.

"Oh," said Luke. He hesitated before going into Harry's office and leaving the report on his desk so he'd find it first thing tomorrow.

"Harry, I need-Jackson, what are you doing in here?" It was Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister for Magic.

"Beg pardon, sir, I came to hand up my report on today's incident," said Luke, standing as tall as he could although his leg was starting to hurt..

"Bit late, isn't it?" asked Kingsley, glancing at a clock. It was after seven.

"Yes, sir. I stayed for the team meeting, then had to go to the Infirmary for treatment. I came back and started my report then. I came to hand it to Mr Potter, but he's gone," said Luke.

"Damn, that's right, he told me he had to leave early. His wife is on assignment so he had to pick up his daughter. Damn!" said Kingsley again, looking at the files in his hand.

He looked over to Luke. "You know, I hate to do this. I'm sure you want to get home and rest up, but could you take these to Potter at his home?" He thrust some files at Luke. "They're from the Muggle Prime Minister, kind of a _'please explain'_ about what happened today. They're highly confidential."

"You want me to go to Harry Potter's home?" asked Luke, doubtfully. Harry was very private, despite the constant presence of the press whenever the family were out in public. The other Aurors respected their boss enough to not gawk at his family when they visited, and did not talk to the press about him.

"Yeah," said Kingsley, "I don't like to do it, but this is urgent, and I'd rather hand the files to him than send him a Ministry owl. You can hand him your report yourself, too," said Kingsley.

"Erm, sure, yeah, I guess. If you think it will be all right, sir," said Luke.

"Come with me, my Floo is connected to the Potter's. I can let Harry know you're coming through," said Kingsley, and Luke followed him out and back to his own office. Kingsley knelt down and called Harry's name out.

"Damn, he's not answering. Look, go through, it's not locked, so he is home. Just leave the file and reports on his table, then leave. Look at nothing, touch nothing, understand?" asked Kingsley.

"Sir, shouldn't you-" began Luke, when Kingsley practically pushed him through.

"More fires to put out after today's incident. And if you see Potter, tell him I'm sorry, but I forced you. I'll speak with him tomorrow, apologise personally. Now, go," he said, throwing the Floo powder down.

Luke Flooed to the Potter home, almost stumbling out the fireplace. He grabbed his aching leg, rubbing it as he looked around.

"Hello, you're not Uncle Kingsley?"

Luke looked up, startled to see a pretty little girl standing near the door. She cocked her head, unafraid. "Who _are_ you?" she asked.

Luke held his hands up to show her he didn't have his wand in his hand. "My name is Luke Jackson, and I'm an Auror. I came to see-"

"Oh, you're one of Dad's men. Come in," she said, ushering him with her hand. "Dad's upstairs in the bathroom. I'm Lily."

Luke almost snorted at that. Of course she was Potter's daughter, she didn't need to tell him that. The papers printed everything about them.

"Can you braid? Dad's not very good at it, and Mum's away. If I don't do it now, it will be all frizzy in the morning," she said, gesturing to her damp hair. She was dressed in her pyjamas and dressing gown.

"Erm, yeah, kind of. Look, I'm just supposed to give these to your dad and go. He wouldn't like it if I stayed too long," said Luke, nervously looking up the stairs.

Lily shrugged. "Dad will be down soon. You could braid while we wait for him. You simply _can't_ be as bad as my dad," she said, turning around and handing him a brush and hair ties.

"Doesn't he know the spell?" asked Luke, sitting down and sighing in relief as his leg got some respite. He began brushing gently, and parting her dark red hair into three sections.

"Dad likes doing some things the Muggle way. It's nice when he brushes my hair," said Lily. "You're doing very good so far," she complimented.

"I have a couple of younger sisters," said Luke, as he began plaiting. He was trying, and failing, to picture the angry Harry Potter he'd seen earlier that day, to a Harry Potter that brushed and plaited his daughter's hair.

"Are you a good big brother? Mine are okay. They both go to Hogwarts now. I still have to wait two more years. They promised to write me, but so far only Al has, because James has already been busy with detentions," sighed Lily.

Luke remembered the recent photos in the paper of Harry and Ginny seeing their son Albus off for his first year at Hogwarts. "You must miss them," said Luke, trying to concentrate on the braids.

"I do, but it's also nice to have Mum and Dad to myself," said Lily.

"Lils, this damn polish won't-Jackson, what the bloody hell are you doing here?" demanded Harry, coming in to the kitchen.

Luke had jumped up as soon as he saw Harry. "Beg pardon, sir, I-"

"Dad, you swore," admonished Lily.

"How did you get in here?" asked Harry.

"He came through Uncle Kingsley's Floo, Dad," answered Lily. She bent over. "Oh, the polish didn't come off. Maybe Mum knows the right spell."

Luke dared to glance down to see a bare foot Harry with bright pink nail polish on his toes. He tried to choke back a laugh, which was easy when he looked into hard, angry green eyes.

Luke took a breath. "Sir, Minister Shacklebolt asked me to deliver some highly confidential urgent files to you. He apologised for sending me, but he was needed elsewhere."

"Why you?" asked Harry.

Luke opened his mouth to speak, but the oven timer dinged. "Dad, my cupcakes are ready to come out," cried Lily, excitedly.

Harry tore his furious gaze at Luke to look down at his daughter. His gaze softened and he nodded. He strode past Luke and grabbed an oven mitt, taking the two trays of cupcakes out and putting them on the side to cool.

"Dad, we did it, and without magic," squealed Lily, clapping her hands. She turned to Luke. "My class is having a party tomorrow and I said I'd make cupcakes. Mum promised to help me, but she had to go away for work, so Dad helped me," explained Lily.

"They look good. Smell good, too," said Luke, unable to stop his stomach rumbling.

Lily giggled. "That sounded like Uncle Ron, didn't it, Dad?"

Harry chuckled. "It sure did, Lil. Hungry, Jackson?" he asked, pulling out bacon and eggs from the refrigerator.

"Dad, can Luke keep braiding my hair while you're being mad at him for coming here like Uncle Kingsley told him to," said Lily. "Please. He's really good, cos he has two little sisters."

Harry nodded so Lily happily moved closer to Luke, turning her back to him. Under Harry's watchful gaze, he undid some of the braid and started again.

"Oh, are you making breakfast for supper?" asked Lily, as Harry cracked a couple of eggs in a pan and added bacon.

Harry and Luke chuckled. "Yes, I guess I am. It's quick and easy," he said. Luke imagined him adding - ' _and then you can get the hell out of my house'_.

"There, done," said Luke, trying the hair tie on the bottom.

Lily patted her hair down and turned to Harry. "Dad, is it straight?"

Harry looked at it and nodded. "Yeah, it's straight, honey."

"Good," said Lily, "I don't want to look silly at school tomorrow. That Nancy Davis is a mean little witch, and she'll tell everyone if my braids aren't straight. Dad, can't you arrest her or something?" she asked.

Luke snorted, then turned it into a cough. "Maybe I could have Luke look into it," Harry said, dryly.

Lily beamed, looking at Luke. "Isn't my dad the best? Is he a good boss?"

Behind her, it was Harry's turn to snort. "Not today I wasn't. I got very angry and even yelled."

"Really?" asked Lily, her eyes wide. "Dad hardly ever yells, usually it's Mum, and usually it's at James. What did you do?" she asked Luke.

"I wasn't mad at Luke, honey. We just had a case go wrong, there were lots of problems and I was tired and frustrated," said Harry, sliding a plate in front of Luke. He turned back to make him some toast too. "Lils, want some toast?"

"Yes, please," said Lily. "I know why you're tired, you're missing Mum," she said. "He always gets grumpy when she goes away," she confided in Luke.

Harry chuckled, putting a plate in front of Lily. She picked up her toast and nibbled a corner.

"So Jackson, er, Luke, why did Kingsley send _you_?" asked Harry, finally sitting down and placing a steaming cup of coffee in front of Luke. He sipped his own tea as he waited to hear Luke's reply. Luke was surprised that Harry knew how he took his coffee.

"Well sir, I was at the team meeting, then had to go to the Infirmary for treatment. After that I-"

"You were injured? Merlin, what are you doing here, you should be at home," asked Harry.

"Well, sir, I went back to the office, I have a note from the Medi-witch for you. I ran into a couple of others and they told me about the reports. No exceptions. So I wrote my report and took it to your office, but you'd left for the day."

"But you shouldn't have-" began Harry.

"He came to pick me up from Aunt Audrey's. I went there after school to play with Lucy," interrupted Lily.

"Anyway, sir," continued Luke, after nodding to Lily, "I was hesitant to go into your office, but I wanted to leave my report and medical certificate on your desk. Minister Shacklebolt came in to see you, and well, it was his idea that I come here," explained Luke.

"And I found him, Dad?" said Lily, gleefully.

Luke looked at her. "How come you weren't scared of me?" he asked.

Lily scoffed. "Our house has the best wards in the whole _world,_ " she exaggerated. "Besides, my dad is Harry Potter. You wouldn't want to hurt me. And if you did, and somehow got past my dad, then..." She crooked her finger to make him come closer.

Harry watched in amusement as Luke leaned closer. "You'd have to deal with my Mum," she whispered.

Luke wanted to laugh. "No! She can't be that scary, can she?" he teased.

"Course not, she loves _us_. But if you hurt any of us, especially dad, look out," warned Lily. She stifled a yawn.

"Lils, I think it's nearly time for bed," said Harry, chuckling despite himself.

"But my cupcakes! I need to ice them and decorate them," wailed Lily.

Harry groaned. "Can't you take them like that," he said, waving his hand over them. He had wanted an early night tonight. Lily was right, he never slept well when Ginny was away, and it was the same for her.

"No, I already made the icing. Green and gold, Harpies colours," said Lily. "Plus I want to put everyone's initial on each cake." She got out two bowls of icing and a bowl of chocolate chips.

Harry groaned again. "Lils, that sounds like it could take awhile."

Lily smiled, hugging her dad. "Luke can help you. Night Dad, love you. Night Luke, it was nice to meet you, and thanks for braiding my hair. Maybe you could tell Dad where he goes wrong," she said, before leaving them alone.

There was silence in the kitchen. Luke fumbled to stand. "Sir, I should be going. Once again, I apologise for intruding, and -"

"Oh, sit down, Jackson. If I have to do these bloody cupcakes, then you can help me," grumbled Harry. "Unless you need to go." He nodded towards Luke's leg.

Luke sat down. "No, sir, I don't. I'd be happy to help you."

If anyone had told him that morning, that he'd end the day at Harry Potter's house, a Harry Potter with painted toe nails, braiding hair and icing cupcakes, Luke would have told them they were barking mad. Still, here he was. Just him and Harry Potter. A very human Harry Potter, a doting father and a kind man.

They'd nearly finished icing when the Floo flared and Ginny Potter stepped out. "Gin, is that you?" asked Harry, surprised.

He stood and went to greet his wife. Luke tried not to stare as the couple embraced. _Problems in their marriage? Not likely,_ thought Luke. Once again the Daily Prophet was way off base. If they could see the love between these two, there wouldn't be any doubt.

"Ginny, love, this is Luke Jackson, one of my Aurors. He brought over some important documents from Kingsley tonight, and Lils coerced him into staying," chuckled Harry. "Luke, my wife, Ginny," he introduced.

Luke tried to stand, but stumbled slightly. "Pleasure to meet you, Mrs Potter."

"Are you injured? Oh dear, when I heard about what happened I finished my interviews as quickly as I could, then had to bribe someone to give me their Portkey to get home," said Ginny, her face worried.

"I'll be fine, ma'am. Once I get home I'll take a pain potion," assured Luke.

"Do you have someone to look after you, help you?" asked Ginny.

Luke shrugged. "My flatmate is on leave at the moment, but I'll be fine, thanks," he said.

"Hmmm," said Ginny, eyeing him up and down. Harry smiled to himself, sure that at some stage tomorrow, Luke would find himself the recipient of a basket of Molly Weasley's delicious goodies.

"I'm just going upstairs to see Lil. I'll come back and help you so Luke can go and rest," said Ginny.

Harry looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry, you should have gone home ages ago," he said.

"It's fine, sir. It was nice to spend time with a family. I miss my little sisters," said Luke, icing the last cup cake.

"Right then," said Ginny, returning. "Where are you boys up to?"

"Just finished icing the last one, Gin. Luke is a good icer," chuckled Harry.

"Lils also said he's a good braider," said Ginny, "even better than her dad," she added, winking at Luke. She looked at the cakes. "So they're done?"

Harry shook his head. "Lils wants initials for all the kids in her class on each cupcake," he said.

Ginny sighed. "Let's get to it then."

It took them half an hour, after Ginny compiled a list of all the students she could remember. By the time they were done, there was still five cupcakes left, for Ginny hadn't remembered everybodys names. She assured Harry she could finish them in the morning, with help from Lily.

Ginny wished Luke a speedy recovery and thanked him for helping her husband and daughter that night. She then said goodnight, reminding Harry to lock the house before he came to bed. Luke watched Harry watch Ginny go upstairs, and knew it was time for him to go.

"Thank you sir. For the food, and not being too angry that I came uninvited to your home. I promise not to mention tonight to anyone," he stated.

Harry looked taken aback to be shown that much loyalty. "Er, thanks, and you're welcome. I guess I'll see you when you're recovered. Take care, Luke, owl the department if you need anything."

"I will, thank you, sir. Good night," said Luke.

He was surprised the next day when two owls delivered a basket of food. Upon opening the lid , he saw the freshly baked bread, a steak and kidney pie, a shepherd's pie and a container of chicken and vegetable soup. It reminded him of his mum's home cooking, and he couldn't wait to eat it.

He also saw a familiar looking cupcake near the bottom, along with a note. He was further surprised to see it was from his boss.

 _Luke, Lily wanted you to have a cupcake, so she forfeited her own 'L' cupcake to send to you. Again, many thanks for last night and best wishes for a speedy recovery. HP_

It was the best cupcake Luke had ever eaten.

/*/*/*/*

Luke returned to active duty two weeks later, glad to be off desk duty. True to his word, he never told anyone about the night he spent at the Potter's. Harry never mentioned it to him either, and as time went by, it simply became a nice memory.

Now it was nearly Christmas, and the Auror department were in a good mood. It had with most of the staff looking forward to the holidays. Of course, some had to work, but Harry was always fair when it came to rostering at this time of year. The staff that worked Christmas usually had New Year's off. Luke was going home for Christmas, and he couldn't wait to see his family again.

Head Auror Potter had called the staff in for his Christmas meeting, to thank his staff for a good year and wish them a Happy Christmas. There were food and beverages set up in the corner, and the mood was festive.

Harry was just about finished his speech when the door opened and Kingsley Shacklebolt held the door open for Ginny and Lily Potter, both carrying boxes. Harry looked concerned, so he excused himself and went to speak to his wife. He quickly returned. "Erm, my daughter has something to say to you all," he said.

Lily came to the front, standing on a table so that everyone could see her. She spotted Luke and waved to him. "Hi Luke," she called. As his Auror mates stared at him, he waved back.

"I just wanted to wish Luke and everyone a Happy Christmas, and I'm sorry if my dad gets grumpy at you. It's because he wants everyone to be safe, all the time. He worries about you all, too. He's usually nice and happy."

All the Aurors chuckled as their boss flushed. "Lils!"

"Mum and me made cupcakes for everyone, because you all work really hard, protecting us. Thank you," said Lily.

The Aurors all cheered. If they weren't already loyal to their boss before then, Lily sealed it, winning their hearts.

"Three cheers for Lily Potter, honorary Auror," called someone, and the three cheers rang out. Someone found an unused Auror badge, and charmed it pink and gave it to her.

Lily was delighted. "Pink's my favourite colour," she said.

Luke couldn't help but look down at Harry's feet, which of course, were covered by his shoes. "I remember," he said, grinning at her and risking a grin at his boss.

Harry actually leaned over to Luke and whispered, "She painted them red. My wife still won't tell me the spell to take it off."

Lily came over to Luke and handed him a cupcake. "We iced them red and green for Christmas," she said. "I saved you the best one."

"Well, thank you, Miss Potter," said Luke.

"Ahem," coughed Kingsley. "All new Aurors need my authorisation. May I see your Auror badge, Lily?" he asked.

Lily handed it over. "Pink's my favourite colour, Uncle Kingsley," she said.

Kinglsey waved his wand over the badge. "There now, it has my personal stamp on it. You are now officially an honorary Auror," he said.

"Thanks, Uncle Kingsley," grinned Lily. She handed him a cupcake. "I saved the biggest one for you, because you're the boss of the whole wizarding world, and because you're the biggest one here," she said.

Kingsley tossed his head back in laughter. Ginny came and joined them. "Lily, we have to go. We still have to deliver cupcakes to the staff at WWW before the Hogwarts Express comes in," said Ginny.

"All right, Mum. Bye everyone, thanks for my badge. Luke, are you spending Christmas with your family?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm leaving tonight," said Luke.

"How old are your sisters?" asked Ginny.

"One is fourteen and the youngest is nine," said Luke.

"So she'll be starting Hogwarts the same year as me?" asked Lily.

Luke nodded as Harry joined them.

"I'll look for her on the train. What's her name?" asked Lily.

"Leia," said Luke.

"Luke and Leia?" asked Harry, sceptically.

Luke grinned. "My dad's a Star Wars fan," he admitted.

"What about your other sister?" asked Ginny, who had been introduced to Star Wars by Harry.

"Amidala," confessed Luke.

"Darla Jackson is your sister?" cried Lily. When Luke nodded she grinned. "Al wrote me and told me James has a crush on a Darla Jackson. Oh boy, I can't wait to-"

"Lily," warned Harry.

"Time to go, Lily," said Ginny. "Happy Christmas to you and your family, Luke," she said.

"Thank you, and to you and yours, Mrs Potter," said Luke. He patted Lily on the back when she gave him a quick hug.

"We'll see you in awhile, Harry," said Ginny, and he nodded, keen to see his son's again. He kissed both her and Lily cheeks before they left.

The Aurors all called out a cheery goodbye to Ginny and Lily, reminding her that she was now one of them. She held up her badge proudly, calling out goodbyes to them all.

/*/*/*/*

It was nearly eight years later that Lily Potter came to her father's department and traded the pink badge for a real Auror trainee badge. Luke had seen her from time to time, but mostly kept track of her through the press or from his sister, who became friends and dorm mates in Gryffindor with Lily.

She had progressed through her training, and as was customary, as the trainees went into their third and final year of training, they were partnered with an older Auror to mentor them. They would start going out on actual cases with their mentors to learn the ropes.

Harry usually relied on the Auror trainers to decide who to partner the trainees with, although they did have a meeting to brief him on their decisions. For the first time he used his position to request who Lily be partnered with.

That night, Luke was signing off from his shift when Harry approached him. "Jackson, got a minute?" he asked.

Luke nodded, wondering if he had done something wrong. He followed Harry to the empty staff room, where Harry made him a coffee as he had done on that night, many years ago. Harry made himself a cup of tea, and they sat down.

Harry took a breath. "I've tried really hard all these years to keep my personal life away from the office. My wife has been amazing to put up with me, and at times my children have suffered because I've had to sacrifice time with them to be here. My family are everything to me, Jackson, everything," he said.

Luke nodded. "I know, sir."

Harry continued. "When Lily started working here, I was adamant I wouldn't show her any preferential treatment. Yes, she's my daughter, but she chose to become an Auror. I admit it's not what I would have wanted her to do, but I promised her I'd always support her in everything, so here we are."

"I don't mean to over step my bounds, but from what I've seen, Mr Potter, sir, you are a caring, loving father," said Luke.

Harry looked at him. "Thank you, Luke."

Both men took a gulp of their drink. "I personally asked for you to be Lily's partner, Luke. My daughter- she's fiery, stubborn, passionate and curious," said Harry.

"Good qualities in an Auror, sir," said Luke.

Harry nodded. "It's not often I have to ask this of anyone outside the family. Lily has a lot of uncles, her brothers and cousins, and despite being the youngest of them all, well, she'd curse me if she knew what I was about to ask you," said Harry. He chuckled. "She's a lot like her mother."

"What is it you're asking me, sir?" asked Luke, although he had a feeling he knew what was coming.

Harry took a breath. "Please look after my daughter."

"Mr Potter, sir, I'll watch over her as if she were my own sister," said Luke, solemnly.

Harry and Luke looked at each other until Harry nodded. "Yes, I think you will. Thank you. Really... thank you."

"Thank _you_ for your trust, Mr Potter, sir," said Luke, proudly.

The two men made small talk as they finished their drinks, then Luke respectfully wished his boss a good night.

And so Lily continued the Potter tradition of becoming an Auror; a successful one too. She knew there were whispers of nepotism, but in the end, her record spoke for itself.

Lily still made cupcakes and brought them to the office, a reminder of the night they met. Sometimes she'd even put initials on them, teasing Luke when he picked up one of the 'L' cupcakes.

"No," she'd giggle, "this one's mine. That one's yours," she'd point to the other 'L' one.

"Uh-uh," he'd tease, "that's mine and that one is yours."

Lily would go on and graduate top of her class. She and Luke remained partners for many years. One of the key features in their long successful partnership was the complete trust they had in each other, despite their age difference. Lily had always been comfortable with people older than herself. They had each other's backs and became the top team in the department.

Lily carried the Potter name proudly. She couldn't have made Harry prouder if she tried.


End file.
